Deliverance
by CaveScot
Summary: A Halo: Reach short based on the events of the "Deliver Hope" trailer. What exactly is going through each person's mind as they fight during that desperate and seemingly hopeless mission? One thing remains certain: Victory, no matter the cost.


_Author's Note: Hiya! So this is my first short story on this site and I'm really just hoping it'll blow over well with you folks. Um, it was inspired by the trailer "Deliver Hope" and I thought it might be interesting if I go through the whole deal on a more indepth scale. I'll be doing several other short stories and series later so this'll not be the last! Thanks for reading!_

Our mission was simple; eliminate the Covenant cruiser hovering over New Tokyo. So where did we go wrong? No, where did _I_ go wrong? I let him die, I was the one that screwed up. It should have been me to destroy that cruiser and I should have seen that Banshee coming.

But it was a victory…right?

**New Tokyo**

**September 10, 2551**

The bomb's readout flashed in the midday sun as it bobbed up and down with its carrier. She kept looking straight forward, ducking and weaving to avoid the plasma hissing past her. She glanced to the right and saw Jorge and a few marines laying down covering fire, only for one marine to take a plasma bolt to the chest and collapse with a cry of pain.

She kept running for all she was worth, knowing that she had to make it. Knowing that she _would_ make it. A flurry of purple needles zoomed past her, missing her helmet by centimeters. She leapt over a charred concrete barrier and continued her sprint. Up ahead were three elites, but suddenly one fell with Carter on top of it, driving a knife into its throat, the other two continued firing only for one to jerk and fall backwards from Jun's sniper shot, and the other to dive out of the way as Kat fired several shots from her magnum. She heard it roaring something in their guttural alien language but didn't slow down to find out. The egg-shaped nuclear device in the crook of her arm emitted a faint beeping noise that was gradually beginning to speed up, though barely noticeably. If she could just make it to that elevator she could send the bomb up and it would be within range to take out the alien cruiser. But…what was that screaming noise?

OOO

The elite pilot growled as he locked on to the racing Demon below. He wasn't sure why she was making this suicide run but he would make sure to end it.

Killing a Demon would surely earn him respect and possibly even a promotion, but even if it did not the satisfaction of fulfilling the will of the Forerunners and the Hierarchs would be enough. He paused for a moment, straining his eyes to see what she was cradling, then he dismissed it and grinned savagely before firing a single shot.

OOO

The Banshee came out of nowhere and even as Kat turned, the plasma shot slammed into the ground less than a meter away from her, detonating on impact. She didn't even feel anything at first as she went sailing through the air and crashed into the ground, breaking her leg on impact. When she finally could feel something it was nothing but a wall of pain and frustration. Upon trying to stand, she found she couldn't move and to add to that, she couldn't feel her right arm which was scorched and probably beyond salvage at this point anyway.

"No…" she mumbled incoherently as a shadow passed over her. Even as tough as she was tears still came to her eyes as she looked up at the forest green armor and gold visor of Thomas, Noble Six. He nodded to her and as he knelt down, whispered something to her which only caused the knot in her stomach to tighten. He abruptly turned and activated his jetpack, soaring up towards the cruiser and carrying the nuke.

Cat gasped for breath and feebly tried to call to him to come back when she realized the elevator they had planned on using was completely destroyed. Yet what he was doing was a suicide run, surely he realized that.

Then it was Carter standing over her, attempting to help her up as plasma bolts continued to fly around them. Telling her it was alright, that the mission would surely be a success. Right then she knew it would be, for she had heard Thomas' promise. Hope would be delivered.

Because they were Spartans. Victory in the face of defeat, no matter the cost.

OOO

Thomas thudded to a halt as soon as he was inside the cruiser and paused to take in his surroundings. He was in a dark corridor, barely lit from the light outside and the purplish glow from the chamber a few dozen meters away.

When he came to a ledge overlooking the chamber he saw that the initial invasion force was nothing compared to what was about to be launched and he knew what he had to do. Looking down at the MFOD bomb in his arms he readjusted the timer for ten seconds and almost casually tossed it over the edge. He could hear a few faint roars and squeals and sore he could almost hear the faint beeping as he turned and walked away. There was no need to run, seeing as there was no possible way he could get away in time, but the Covenant knew how to disarm most bombs, and he couldn't have taken the risk of them disarming the only one available to the small UNSC defense force in the area.

Noble Six came to a stop and briefly thought of all his friends in Noble team, especially Cat, whom he had heard attempting to call him back. If only they had had more time together, there could have been something more…

The countdown timer on his HUD read zero and Thomas smiled. Victory, no matter the cost, besides, he would be fine.

Spartans never died, after all.


End file.
